Storage-induced promoter

ABSTRACT

A promoter with an organ-specific activity in plants. The promoter is characterized in that it exhibits greater activity in the storage organs of plants than in other organs of said plants and that the promoter activity is modified after the harvest of the storage organs and is greater than prior to said harvest.

The invention concerns a promoter with an organ specific activity in plants, its application as well as transgenic plants.

According to Nilsson (2000), useful plants can be divided into three groups in view of storage life. Harvested crops of the first group, such as cabbage, broccoli, cauliflower, asparagus, and spinach, comprise leaves, sprouts, blooms, and buds. The plant parts of these plants have small water storage capability and quickly show a post-harvest senescence. Plants with fleshy fruits, such as tomato, pumpkin, and pears, belong to the second group. The fruits of these plants show a maturation and senescence during the storage. Biannual plants belong to the third group. Plants with a two-year life cycle, such as sugar beet, chicory, carrot, onion, or artichoke, develop a storage organ during the first year, which contributes to bloom and seed formation in the second year.

Storage organs are subject to numerous physiological changes after the harvest (postharvest), which influence the quality of the storage organs and the quantity of their contents. The physiological changes are on one hand the results of the mechanical treatment during the uprooting, such as injury and crushing, and on the other hand the consequence of storage and associated water loss, the consequence of a forced or natural dormancy or the result of a cold adaptation.

In order to influence the metabolism capacity of a storage organ after the harvest, designated processes, which preferably regulate the specific promoters, are required. Genes in the sprout of asparagus or the blooms of broccoli, which are activated after harvest, are known. However, this kind of gene is not known in the storage organs of plants and thus up to now there are no indications of suitable promoters.

The object of the present invention is, therefore, to provide such a promoter, with the help of which the metabolic physiological changes in the storage organs of plants after the harvest can be influenced.

The inventive solution of the above object is accomplished by a promoter with the features of claim 1.

First, some of the concepts used in this application will be explained in more detail:

In the sense of this invention, storage organs of a plant are such organs that serve to store carbohydrates such as sucrose, starch, or inulin and/or nitrogen compounds such as proteins or amino acids. A typical storage organ is, for example, the root or the hypocotyl. Sprout-like storage organs can be the tubers of potato, topinamburs, and halminternodien of sugarcane. Other storage organs are root tubers, which appear in yam, manioc, and sweet potato.

Biannual plants require a two-year development period for their life cycle. In the first year, a storage organ is developed. In the second year, the forming of blooms and seeds takes place by utilizing the reserve material of the storage organ.

A promoter is understood as a nucleic acid sequence, which controls the expression of a gene, if necessary, in dependence on endogenous and exogenous factors. These factors include, for example, inducers, repressors, and similar DNA-binding proteins, but also environmental influences. A promoter can comprise several elements. It includes, however, at least a regulatory element, which is responsible for the transcription of the gene under its control.

A promoter, which is activated in a storage organ after the harvest rather than before the harvest, and thus its activity is induced, shows, for example, in harvested roots an activity measurable through RNA-blots, which is detectable in comparable test conditions in not harvested roots as less than 20%, preferably as less than 10% and especially as less than 5%. The specificity can first occur with some delay after the uprooting and during the storage.

“Derivates” of a promoter are shortened or extended or in sections identical versions or homolog of the promoter with same or essentially same properties.

“Direct anti-fungal or anti-bacterial effect” means that the gene products act directly anti-fungal, whereby they, for example, dissolve cell walls or code for phytoalexin synthase or for a metabolite, which obstructively interferes in the fungal or bacterial metabolism.

“Indirect anti-fungal or anti-bacterial effect” means that the gene products activate the plant gene defense. These genes include, for example, resistance genes, components of the signal transduction (such as kinases, phosphatases), transcription factors or enzymes, which produce signal substances (such as ethylene forming, salicylic acid forming, or jasmonate forming enzymes, reactive oxygen species forming enzymes, nitrogen monoxide forming enzymes).

“Infection” is understood as the earliest point of time at which the metabolism of the fungus (or the growth of the fungus) is prepared for a penetration of host tissue, which includes the development of hyphae or the formation of specific infection structure such as penetration hyphae and appressors.

The expression “homology” means a homology of at least 70% at the DNA level, which can be determined according to known processes of, for example, computer-aided sequence comparison (see Altschul et al, 1990, Basic Local Alignment search tool, J. Mol. Biol. 215: 403-410).

“Complementary nucleotide sequence” means that in a double-stranded DNA, the second DNA strand, complementary to the first DNA strand, has nucleotide bases according to the base pairing rules, which correspond to the bases of the first strand.

The term “hybridize” means hybridization under normal conditions as described in Sambrook et al. (1989), preferably under the stringent conditions. Stringent hybridization conditions are for example: hybridization in 4×SSC at 65° C. and followed by multiple washing in 0.1×SSC at 65° C. for a total of 1 hour. Less stringent hybridization conditions are for example: hybridization in 4×SSC at 37° C. and followed by multiple washing in 1×SSC at room temperature. “Stringent hybridization conditions” can also mean: hybridization at 68° C. in 0.25 M sodium phosphate, pH 7.2, 7% SDS, 1 mM EDTA and 1% BSA for 16 hours followed by washing twice with 2×SSC and 0.1% SDS at 68° C.

The embodiments of the invention will be described in greater detail with the help of the figures.

The inventive promoter is active in the storage organs of plants, such as the root of sugar beet, carrot, and chicory or the tuber of potato, after the harvest. No or only very little activity is detectable in the storage organs or other organs before the harvest. This characteristic can be used to improve the metabolism of the storage organ after the harvest. Transgenic plants and parts of the plants such as seeds can also be produced by application of the promoter.

Preferably, the activity of the inventive promoter in the storage organ is measurable through RNA-blots, which is detectable in comparable test conditions before harvest of the storage organ as less than 20%, preferably as less than 10% and especially as less than 5%.

According to a further development of the invention, the promoter comprises:

-   -   a) a nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 1 or     -   b) a nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 2 or     -   c) a nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 3 or     -   d) a nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 4 or     -   e) a nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 5 or     -   f) a nucleotide sequence complementary to the nucleotide         sequences a) to e) or     -   g) a nucleotide sequence that hybridizes with a nucleotide         sequence according to a) to f).

Derivates of such promoter are also provided. Such derivates are defined above in more detail and also include DNA-fragments of the promoter, as are reproduced in the restriction map, or DNA-fragments, which are obtainable through application of not specifically named commercial restriction endonucleases.

The invention concerns then transgenic plants, which were transformed with the inventive promoter.

The invention also concerns the application of the inventive promoter or the derivates for production of a transgenic plant with one or more of the following properties:

-   -   a) improved carbohydrate metabolism in the storage organs after         harvest     -   b) improved nitrogen metabolism in the storage organs after         harvest     -   c) improved dry stress resistance and improved water status in         the storage organs after harvest     -   d) improved cold and frost tolerance of the storage organs after         harvest     -   e) increased resistance/tolerance of the storage organs against         pathogens after harvest     -   f) improved secondary metabolism in the storage organs after         harvest

The inventive promoter can thus be used to reduce or prevent the degradation of sugar in the harvested sugar beet and the accumulation of invert sugar. For that an invertase inhibitor gene in the harvested root is expressed and the activity of cellular invertases is inhibited.

The inventive promoter also can be used to achieve higher utilization of inulin and the production of long chain inulin molecules in the chicory root. For that the degradation of inulin in the harvested chicory is reduced or inhibited, in which the activity of fructosyl-exohydrolase in the root after the harvest is reduced through antisense or RNA deposit.

The inventive promoter can also be used to reduce the “cold-sweetening” of the harvested and stored potato tuber. For that the invertase inhibitor gene in the harvested tuber is expressed and the activity of cellular invertases is inhibited.

The inventive promoter can further be used to reduce the content of extractable “harmful nitrogen,” such as amino acids, in the storage organs of the plants after the harvest. Higher concentrations of N-compounds in the storage organs often reduce the nutrition physiological value of the harvested products or make it difficult to isolate stored material such as sucrose from sugar beet roots. A reduction of extractable “harmful nitrogen” in the root can be achieved through an increased incorporation of amino acids in proteins in the storage organs with the help of the promoter. Proteins can, in contrast to amino acids, be cut down from the sugar beet during the sugar extraction and are thus not extractable.

The inventive promoter can also be used to improve the cold and frost tolerance of the storage organs. For that, for example, transcription factors for cold or frost tolerance or cold or frost protection protein are expressed through the promoter.

With the help of the inventive promoter, the sickness resistance of the harvested storage organs can be improved. Numerous in-ground reproducing fungi, such as the representative of the species Fusarium spp., or bacteria such as Erwinia carotovora, the exciter of the potato tuber wet rot, can infect the harvested storage organs. A fungus or bacterial resistance can be attained and the storage capability of the storage organ can be improved through combination of the inducible promoter with a gene, the gene product of which imparts a direct or indirect antifungal or antibacterial effect.

Finally, the inventive promoter can be used to improve the secondary metabolism of the storage organs. Potato tubers are the most important vitamin C source in central Europe. The vitamin C content of the tuber declines during storage. This vitamin reduction can be prevented or reduced with the help of the promoter.

FIGURES

FIG. 1 shows the induction of PHI (postharvest induced)-genes 7, 20, 153, and 227 of the sugar beet after the harvest of the beetroots through a RNA-blot experiment. The gene expression in the leaves and the roots of the sugar beet directly before the harvest (0 d) and then at different points in time after the harvest were analyzed. The roots were stored 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days at 17° C. and 1, 4, and 14 days at 26-28° C. In each case 10 μg total cell-RNA was separated per time instant in a denaturing formaldehyde-agarose gel and hybridized with the cDNA fragments of genes PHI7, PHI20, PHI153, and PHI227.

FIG. 2 shows the induction of the expression of the PHI (postharvest induced)-gene 5 in the root after the harvest of the sugar beet through a RT-PCR experiment. The PHI5 transcript is detectable only very weakly in the beetroots directly before the harvest (0 d) and very little in the leaves. In cDNA libraries, which were obtained from RNA of the roots stored 1, 4, 7, 14, 21, 28, and 35 days at 17° C. and 1, 3, 4, 7, and 14 days at 26-28° C., a strong PHI5 transcript is detectable. The detection of the expression of glycerinaldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase-gene (GAPDH) shows that same cDNA amounts were applied for the RT-PCR reactions.

FIG. 3 shows the reporter gene vector PHI5-luc-kan with a translational fusion between the promoter PHI5 and the luciferase gene from Photinus pyralis. The promoter PHI5 in the vector PHI5-luc-kan comprises the nucleotide positions 1-1587 of the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 1 and can be isolated from the vector with the help of HindIII and BspHI and combined with other genes.

FIG. 4 shows the reporter gene vector PHI7-luc-kan with a translational fusion between the promoter PHI7 and the luciferase gene from Photinus pyralis. The promoter PHI7 in the vector PHI7-luc-kan comprises the nucleotide positions 1-2695 of the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 2 and can be isolated from the vector with the help of HindIII and NcoI and combined with other genes.

FIG. 5 shows the reporter gene vector PHI20-luc-kan with a translational fusion between the promoter PHI20 and the luciferase gene from Photinus pyralis. The promoter PHI20 in the vector PHI20-luc-kan comprises the nucleotide positions 1-2102 of the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 3 and can be isolated from the vector with the help of HindIII and NcoI and combined with other genes.

FIG. 6 shows the reporter gene vector PHI153-luc-kan with a translational fusion between the promoter PHI153 and the luciferase gene from Photinus pyralis. The promoter PHI153 in the vector PHI153-luc-kan comprises the nucleotide positions 1-5829 of the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 4 and can be isolated from the vector with the help of HindIII and NcoI and combined with other genes.

FIG. 7 shows the reporter gene vector PHI227-luc-kan with a translational fusion between the promoter PHI227 and the luciferase gene from Photinus pyralis. The promoter PHI227 in the vector PHI227-luc-kan comprises the nucleotide positions 1-1117 of the nucleotide sequence SEQ ID NO: 5 and can be isolated from the vector with the help of HindIII and NcoI and combined with other genes.

DETERMINATION OF INDUCTION OF GENE EXPRESSION OF PHI 7, 20, 154 AND 227 IN HARVESTED ROOTS OF SUGAR BEET

Sugar beet seeds were sowed in the field in the spring and the sugar beets were cultivated according to the common agricultural practice. The storage roots of 24-week old plants were harvested in the fall and wounded superficially through a 30-second treatment in a commercial concrete mixer (Attika), in order to produce the wounding and crushing typical for a mechanical uprooting. The storage organs were then stored at 17° C. and 26-28° C. In each case 5 beets were retrieved from beets that had been stored at 17° C. for 1, 3, 4, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 46 days after the harvest and at 26-28° C. for 1, 3, 4, 7, and 14 days after the harvest, and the total cell-RNA was isolated according to Logemann et al. (1987).

The analysis of the gene expression induced after the harvest is conducted through a RNA-Blot-Analysis according to Sambrook et al. (1989). In each case 10 μg total cell-RNA from leaves and roots, which are retrieved from the field directly before the harvest (0 d), and RNA from beets, which are stored 1-35 days long, are separated in a denaturing formaldehyde-agarose gel. The electrophoreticly separated RNA was transferred to a Hybond N nylon membrane (Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Freiburg). The radioactive marker of each 20 ng of the cDNA-clone of the postharvest induced (PHI) genes 7, 20, 153, and 227 was performed with 50 μCiP³²-dATP (6000 Ci/mMol, Amersham Pharmacia Biotech, Freiburg) with the help of Prime-It II Random Primer Kit (Stratagene GmbH, Heidelberg) according to the manufacturer's specification. The RNA-filters were then hybridized with the marked probe, washed, and exposed to an X-ray film.

The gene PHI7 was not expressed in the leaves before the harvest and only very little in the storage roots of the sugar beet. A strong induction of the gene PHI7 occurred in the roots after the harvest and during the storage. The induction was higher at 28° C. than at 17° C. (FIG. 1).

The gene PHI20 was expressed only very little in the leaves and in the root of the sugar beet before the harvest. A strong and long lasting induction of the gene PHI20 occurred in the storage organs after the harvest and during the storage. The induction at 17° C. was comparable with that at 28° C. (FIG. 1).

The gene PHI153 was expressed in the leaves and in the storage root of the sugar beet before the harvest. A strong induction of the gene PHI153 occurred in the root after the harvest and during the storage. The induction at 28° C. was comparable with that at 17° C. (FIG. 1).

The gene PHI227 was expressed only very little in the leaves and in the root of the sugar beet before the harvest. A strong induction and a high, long lasting expression of the gene PHI227 occurred in the root after the harvest and during the storage. The induction at 17° C. was comparable with that at 28° C. (FIG. 1).

Determination of the Induction of Gene Expression of PHI5 in Harvested Roots of Sugar Beet

A RT-PCR experiment was carried out for determination of induction of gene expression of PHI5 in harvested roots of sugar beet. A cDNA library was produced with the help of RevertAid H Minus cDNA Synthese Kit (MBI Fermentas) according to manufacturer's specification from in each case 5 μg total cell-RNA of leaves and roots, which are retrieved from the field directly before the harvest (0 d). Further cDNA libraries were produced in each case from RNA, which had been isolated from beets stored at 17° C. for 1, 3, 4, 7, 14, 21, 28, 35, and 46 days and at 26-28° C. for 1, 3, 4, 7, and 14 days. The expression of the gene PHI5 was determined with the primer PHI5-1 with the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 6 (GTG CAA GGA TTC TGG CAC CCG TCG GTG G) and the primer PHI5-2 with the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 7 (GTA TGG GCC GCG GCA GAT CCA GGT AGC G) with the help of taq-polymerase (Q-Biogene) according to manufacturer's specification. For control purpose, the expression of the gene glycerinaldehyde-3-phosphate-dehydrogenase (GAPDH) was detected through the primer GAPDH-1 having the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 8 (ATG TTT AAG TAC GAC AGT GTT CAC G) and GAPDH-2 having the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 9 (ATG TGA AGG TCT GAC TTG TAT TCG T), in order to ensure that same cDNA amounts had been used for the RT-PCR.

The RT-PCR analysis shows that the gene PHI5 was expressed very weakly in the leaves and very little in the roots before the harvest (0 d). The beets stored at 17° C. and 28° C. showed a strong expression and thus an induction of the gene PHI5 in the storage organ after the harvest and during the storage (FIG. 2). The beets stored at 17° C. showed after 1-7 days after the harvest a clearly less expression of the gene PHI5 as during the days 14-46. The beets stored at 26-28° C. showed at day 1-7 after the harvest a clearly less expression of the gene PHI5 as during the days 4, 7, and 14. The expression of the GAPDH gene was the same in all samples (FIG. 2). This result showed that the expression of the PHI5 gene after the harvest was induced. However, the induction during the first days of storage, which was physiologically a direct result of mechanical uprooting, was clearly less than during the phase of later storage and the associated physiological changes.

Classification of PHI Promoters

The promoters PHI5, PHI7, PHI20, PHI153, and PHI227 were all induced after the harvest in the root of the sugar beet through the harvest process and the subsequent storage of the storage organ (FIGS. 1 and 2). Beside this general property of post-harvest induction, the five promoters differ from one another in view of the root activity before the harvest, the influence of the uprooting and the storage on the kinetics of the induction and the influence of the storage temperature on the strength of the promoter induction. These differences allow the formation of four subclasses of post-harvest induced promoters (Table 1).

The promoter PHI153 belongs to the first subclass of PHI-promoters, in which no gene transcript in the storage organ before the harvest is detectable.

The promoters PHI20 and PHI227 belong to the second subclass of PHI-promoters, which showed a weak activity in the storage organ before the harvest, the induction of which was of the same strength after the harvest both at the lower temperature (17° C.) and at higher temperature (28° C.) and thus temperature independent.

The promoter PHI7 belongs to the third subclass of PHI-promoters, which showed a weak activity in the storage organ before the harvest, the induction of which was clearly stronger at the higher temperature (28° C.) than at the lower temperature (17° C.).

The promoter PHI5 belongs to the fourth subclass of PHI-promoters, which showed a weak activity in the storage organ before the harvest, the activity of which was moderate as a result of the mechanical treatment after the harvest and strongly increased during the storage.

Fusion of the Promoters PHI5, PHI7, PHI20, PHI153, and PHI227 with the Luciferase Gene from Photinus pyralis

In order to determine the activity of the promoters PHI5, PHI7, PHI20, PHI153, and PHI227 in sugar beets, the promoters were translationally fused with the luciferase gene from Photinus pyralis and transformed in the sugar beets. For that the promoter PHI5 as HindIII-BspHI fragment and the promoters PHI7, PHI20, PHI153, and PHI227 as HindIII-NcoI fragment are cloned in the binary vector pGPTV-kan linearized with HindIII-BspHI or HindIII-NcoI (Becker et al., 1992).

The developed vectors carry the designation PHI5-luc-kan (FIG. 3), PHI7-luc-kan (FIG. 4), PHI20-luc-kan (FIG. 5), PHI153-luc-kan (FIG. 6), and PHI227-luc-kan (FIG. 7). The binary vectors were transformed in the Agrobacterium tumefaciens strain C58C1 with the resident plasmid pGV2260 through a direct DNA-transformation process (An, 1987). The selection recombinant A. tumefaciens-clone was accomplished under the application of antibiotic kanamycin (50 mg/l).

The transformation of the sugar beets was accomplished according to Lindsey et al. (1991) under the application of antibiotic kanamycin. The transgenicity of the plants was inspected through PCR. The application of the primer having the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NOs: 8 and 9 GTGGAGGGCTATTCGGTA and CCACCATGATATTCGGCAAG led to the amplification of a 553 bp large DNA fragment from the nptII gene. The PCR was carried out under application of 10 ng genomic DNA, a primer concentration of 0.2 μm at an annealing temperature of 55° C. in a Multicycler PTC-200 (MJ Research, Watertown, USA).

The luciferase gene of the vector PHI5-luc-kan (FIG. 3) can be released as BspHI-SacI fragment and the luciferase gene of the vectors PHI7-luc-kan (FIG. 4), PHI20-luc-kan (FIG. 5), PHI153-luc-kan (FIG. 6), and PHI227-luc-kan (FIG. 7) as NcoI-SacI fragment and can be replaced by another expressing gene such as an invertase inhibitor gene. The expressing gene should be as NcoI-SacI fragment. Alternatively, the PHI5 promoter can be isolated as HindIII-BspHI fragment and promoters PHI7, PHI20, PHI153, and PHI227 as HindIII-NcoI fragment and inserted in the suitable expression vectors.

Determination of PHI5 Promoter Activity in Stored Roots of Sugar Beet

Transgenic sugar beets, which had been transformed with the reporter gene construct PHI5-luc-kan, were applied under green house conditions. 20-week old plants were harvested and the roots were stored for six weeks. The activity of the promoter was analyzed in the roots and the leaves before the harvest and weekly in the stored roots through a reporter gene measurement.

The Photinus pyralis luciferase activity was determined with the Luciferase Assay System (Promega, Mannheim, Germany) in a Sirius Luminometer (Berthold Detection System GmbH, Pforzheim, Germany) according to manufacturer's specification. The weight of the tissue sample is first determined for the preparation of an enzyme extract suitable for the measurement. The sheet samples were homogenized under the addition of sea sand with the 10× volume (v/w) on Passive Lysis buffer (PLB) in a mortar and the root samples in a commercial kitchen appliance (Warring blender). The liquid supernatant transferred to a 1.5 ml Eppendorf vessel and centrifuged 5 min at 4° C. and 20 000 g. The clear supernatant was removed and in each case 10 μl Roh extract is added for the Photinus luciferase activity measurement.

While the PHI5 promoter was only weakly active in the roots and leaves before the harvest, the promoter activity in the harvested and stored roots strongly or very strongly increased in 8 independent transformants. The PHI5 promoter activity was strongly induced according to the result of the reporter gene study in agreement with the RT-PCR result after the harvest in the root of sugar beet.

Transgenic Plants with Special Properties

Transgenic plants with special properties can be produced with the inventive promoter:

-   -   a) improved carbohydrate metabolism in the storage organs after         harvest     -   b) improved nitrogen metabolism in the storage organs after         harvest     -   c) improved dry stress resistance and improved water status in         the storage organs after harvest     -   d) improved cold and frost tolerance of the storage organs after         harvest     -   e) increased resistance/tolerance of the storage organs against         pathogens after harvest     -   f) improved secondary metabolism in the storage organs after         harvest         Improved Carbohydrate Metabolism in the Storage Organs after         Harvest

The carbohydrate metabolism of storage organs of plants can be variedly improved through the application of the inventive promoter. Mechanical treatment during the uprooting and the physiological changes during the storage of sugar beets and carrots result in post-harvest strong hydrolysis and depletion of sucrose and the accumulation of invert sugar (Burba 1973, Smed et al., 1996, Galindo et al., 2004). The sugar losses in the magnitude of 0.01-0.025% per day reduce the isolatable sugar amount from sugar beets. The invert sugar formation leads to technological difficulty during the industrial sugar isolation (Burba, 1976).

The inventive promoters can be used to reduce the sucrose hydrolysis and invert sugar formation. For this suitable invertase inhibitor genes are strongly expressed post-harvest or the expression of the endogenous sucrose synthase genes or invertase genes are reduced through an antisense or RNA deposit.

The inventive promoters can also be used to achieve higher utilization of polyfructan such as inulin and the production of long chain inulin molecules in the chicory root. For that the degradation of inulin in the harvested chicory is reduced or inhibited, in that the activity of the fructosyl-exohydrolase in the root after the harvest is reduced through antisense or RNA deposit:

Improved Nitrogen Metabolism in the Storage Organs after Harvest

The inventive promoter can be used to reduce the content of extractable “harmful nitrogen,” such as amino acids, in the storage organs of the plants after the harvest. Higher concentrations of N-compounds in the storage organs often reduce the nutrition physiological value of the harvested products or make it difficult to isolate of stored material such as sucrose from sugar beet roots. A stronger incorporation of the amino acids in the proteins in the storage organs is achieved through stronger expression of corresponding enzymes, transcription factors, storage proteins and similar. Proteins can, in contrast to non-extractable amino acids, be precipitated from the sugar beet during the sugar extraction.

Increased Tolerance of the Storage Organs Against Soil-Reproducing Pathogenic Fungi and Bacteria

The inventive promoter can also be used, in combination with a gene or a gene combination, to develop a direct or indirect antifungal effect in the storage organs of plants. The antifungal effect leads to a higher fungus resistance or tolerance after the harvest and during the storage.

The promoter is thus translationally or transcriptionally fused with genes of pathogen resisting organism, the gene products of which have a direct or indirect antifungal or antibacterial effect. The promoter-gene combinations are cloned in the binary transformation vector pGPTV and transformed in the sugar beets, carrots or potato through A. tumefaciens mediated transformation. The transgenicity of the plants is, as described, inspected through PCR and the expression of the gene in the roots or tuber is verified through RNA-blot studies. The higher fungus or bacterial resistance of the storage organs is observed by resistance test.

Surprisingly, the post-harvest induced expression of pathogen resistant genes did not lead to dwarfism or yield decrease often observed by a constitutive expression during the vegetative development of plants (Heil and Baldwin, 2002).

REFERENCES

-   Altschul, S. F. et al. (1990). Basic Local Alignment Search Tool, J.     Mol. Biol. 215: 403-410 -   An, G. (1987). Binary Ti vectors for plant transformation and     promoter analysis. Methods Enzymol. 153, 292-305. -   Becker D, Kemper E, Schell J, and Masterson R. (1992). New plant     binary vectors with selectable markers located proximal to the left     T-DNA border. Plant Mol Biol. 20(6):1195-7. -   Burba, M. (1976). Atmung and Saccharosestoffwechsel lagernder     Zuckerrüben. Zeitschrift für die Zuckerindustrie 26: 647-658. -   Galindo, F. G., Herppich, W., Gekas, V., and Sjöholm, I. (2004).     Factors affecting quality and postharvest properties of vegetables:     Integration of water relations and metabolism. Critical Reviews in     Food Science and Nutrition 44:139-154. -   Heil, M. and Baldwin, I. T. (2002). Fitness costs of induced     resistance: emerging experimental support for a slippery concept.     Trends Plant Sci. 2002 February; 7(2):61-7. -   Lindsey, K., Gallois, P., and Eady, C. (1991) Regeneration and     transformation of sugar beet by Agrobacterium tumefaciens. Plant     Tissue Culture Manual B7: 1-13; Kluwer Academic Publishers. -   Logemann, E., Parniske. M., Hahlbrock, K. (1995). Modes of     expression and common structural features of the complete     phenylalanine ammonia-lyase gene family in parsley. Proc Natl Acad     Sci. USA. 1995 92(13):5905-9. -   Nilsson, T. (2000). Postharvest storage and handling of vegetables.,     In Fruit and Vegetable Quality (an integrated view), Seite 96-121.     Herausgeber Shewfew, R. L. and Brückner, B., Technomic Publishing     Inc. -   Sambrook, J., Fritsch, E. F., and Maniatis, T (1989). In Molecular     Cloning, A Laboratory Manual (Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press,     New York). -   Smed, E., Augustinussen, E., and Stensen, J. K. (1996). Loss of     sugar in injured sugar beet losses from lifting, storing and     washing. Proceedings of the 59^(th) IIRB Congress, 533-545. 

The invention claimed is:
 1. A vector or mobile genetic element including a promoter comprising: the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 4, wherein the promoter is operably linked to a nucleic acid, and wherein said nucleic acid is heterologous relative to said promoter.
 2. A plant or prokaryotic host cell including the vector or genetic element according to claim
 1. 3. A transgenic plant or parts thereof transformed with the vector or genetic element according to claim
 1. 4. The transgenic plant according to claim 3, wherein said plant is Beta vulgaris.
 5. A transgenic plant or prokaryotic host cell including a promoter comprising: the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 4 wherein the promoter is operably linked to a nucleic acid, and wherein said nucleic acid is heterologous relative to said promoter.
 6. A transgenic plant or parts thereof transformed with a nucleic acid comprising the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO:
 4. 7. The transgenic plant according to claim 6, wherein said plant is Beta vulgaris.
 8. A method for producing a transgenic plant, said method comprising transforming a plant with a promoter comprising the nucleotide sequence according to SEQ ID NO: 4 operably linked to a coding sequence for producing a transgenic plant with one or more of the following properties: a) improved carbohydrate metabolism in the storage organs after harvest, b) improved nitrogen metabolism in the storage organs after harvest, c) improved dry stress resistance and improved water status in the storage organs after harvest, d) improved cold and frost tolerance of the storage organs after harvest, e) increased resistance/tolerance of the storage organs against pathogens after harvest, or f) improved secondary metabolism in the storage organs after harvest.
 9. The vector or mobile genetic element according to claim 1, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 20% of the activity post harvest.
 10. The vector or mobile genetic element according to claim 1, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 10% of the activity post harvest.
 11. The vector or mobile genetic element according to claim 1, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 5% of the activity post harvest.
 12. The plant or prokaryotic host cell according to claim 5, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 20% of the activity post harvest.
 13. The plant or prokaryotic host cell according to claim 5, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 10% of the activity post harvest.
 14. The plant or prokaryotic host cell according to claim 5, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 5% of the activity post harvest.
 15. The transgenic plant or parts thereof according to claim 6, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 20% of the activity post harvest.
 16. The transgenic plant or parts thereof according to claim 6, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 10% of the activity post harvest.
 17. The transgenic plant or parts thereof according to claim 6, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 5% of the activity post harvest.
 18. The method according to claim 8, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 20% of the activity post harvest.
 19. The method according to claim 8, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 10% of the activity post harvest.
 20. The method according to claim 8, wherein the activity of the promoter in the storage organs post harvest is measurable through RNA-blot, which in comparable test conditions prior to the harvest of the storage organs is detectable at less than 5% of the activity post harvest. 